The present disclosure relates generally to analysis of communication networks. Specifically, the present disclosure relates to automatically determining locations of network monitors in a communication network.
Data networks continue to evolve with ever-higher speeds and more extensive topologies. In order to improve performance of such networks and troubleshoot problems, the performance of a network is monitored through various techniques. Conventional monitoring systems often use traffic analysis points (also known as test access points or “TAPs”) to divert a portion of a data signal's power and send it to a network monitoring device while allowing the majority of the signal's power to continue to its destination.
When a portion of the data signal is sent to the network monitor, it decodes the signal to identify locally unique endpoint identifiers (e.g., a fiber channel identifier (“FCID”) in a fiber channel network) of the signal source and the signal destination. The locally unique endpoint identifier is the functional equivalent of an IP address in an Ethernet network and, like an IP address, is a locally unique identifier for the corresponding communication device. Even when the identities of the communicating devices are known, the location of the network monitor within the network topology is unknown. This is because the network monitor is generally a passive device and because the identities of the communicating devices do not themselves describe the network topology. Because the location of the network monitor within the topology is unknown, the network performance analysis that uses network monitor data is of limited applicability.
Therefore, a method for automatically identifying a location of a network monitor in a communication network would improve the effectiveness of network analysis.
The figures depict various embodiments of the present disclosure for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following discussion that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles described herein.